I keep getting issues playing it. either it'll freeze up in terms of, I can't do anything, no menus appear. The game is pretty much 60fps all the time at all times.

I hear something about loading in software, but that (in general, I haven't tried it with this game) is unacceptably slow to the point of not bothering. Also playing at a sub 1080p resolution is unacceptable.

Where exactly are you having issues?
Does anything show up in the log window during a freeze? If so, post the contents of your emuLog.txt, located inside the logs directory.
Posting your emulation and plugin settings might also help.

I've played it extensively on PCSX2, and I haven't noticed anything gamebreaking. So unless something broke in a recent revision, it's likely on your end.